How can tight hamstrings cause lower back pain?

Before we talk about how to perform the seated hamstring stretch, let’s quickly look at how tight hamstrings can lead to lower back pain. There is disagreement on this point, but it's thought that tight hamstrings limit the motion in your pelvis, and this motion is transferred to your lumbar spine region. This in turn increases the overall stress on your lower back.

Add heat therapy to make stretching easier

The seated hamstring stretch is designed to be gentle, but if you still feel intense pain you can try applying heat therapy for 15-20 minutes prior to stretching. You'll likely find that the heat therapy has relaxed your muscles, and so it will be easier to do your stretching at that time.